City concerned about prank calls to its Emergency Call Centre

The City of Cape Town has raised concerns about the number of prank calls received by its Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC).

According to the City, it has noted a 153% increase in prank calls over the past four weekends. The PECC recorded 104 prank calls, compared to 41 four weekends ago.

PICTURE: CoCT

Meanwhile, 1 679 incidents this weekend, up from 1 424 the previous weekend – calls for help included 118 cases of assault, 37 that were related to domestic violence, 62 motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents, and 199 noise nuisance complaints.

Mayco Member for Safety & Security, JP Smith, called on those guilty of this to stop as it hampers real emergencies.

‘’With the school holidays looming, the message is that hogging the line is definitely not funny. Prank calls have trended upwards over the past few weekends – an increase that is very problematic. These nuisance calls hog the lines, and that extra time that a caller with a real emergency has to spend waiting, could mean the difference between life and death, or a criminal getting away. And, while many prank callers consider themselves would-be comedians, some are downright abusive. The nature of an emergency call taker's job already comes with a lot of trauma and stress, and so prank calls really aren't as funny as the callers might think.’’

‘’In our experience, these callers are not always children – sadly, many adults make themselves guilty of it. However, as we head into the school holidays, I want to urge parents to please talk to the children about the potentially serious repercussions that can come from meddling with the emergency services,’’ added Smith.

 

Done by: Elona Sibunzi